Beyond Limits By Laura Griffin ~Excerpt~Review~Giveaway~Q&A

Beyond
LimitsThe Tracers Series #8

By: Laura Griffin

Releasing January 27th, 2015

Pocket Books

Blurb

FBI agent Elizabeth LeBlanc is still
caught in the aftermath of her last big case when she runs into the one man
from her past who is sure to rock her equilibrium even more. Navy SEAL Derek
Vaughn is back home from a harrowing rescue mission in which he found evidence
of a secret terror cell on US soil. Elizabeth knows he’ll do anything to
unravel the plot—including seducing her for information. And despite the risks
involved, she’s tempted to let him. . . .

On the surface Derek’s offering a
simple deal—Elizabeth provides him with intel, he delivers the terrorist. But
he knows nothing about Elizabeth is easy, and now their volatile relationship
threatens to distract him from the most important mission of his career.
Together with the forensics experts at the Delphi Center, he and Elizabeth are
closing in on the truth, but it may not be fast enough to avert a devastating
impending attack . . . or stop a ruthless enemy from escaping to kill again.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author LAURA
GRIFFIN
started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic
suspense. She is a two-time RITA Award winner (for the books Scorched and Whisper of Warning) as well as the
recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award (for Untraceable). Laura currently
lives in Austin, where she is working on her next book. Visit Laura at www.LauraGriffin.com or Facebook.com/LauraGriffinAuthor

He followed
a narrow corridor and almost stepped on a pair of legs jutting out from the
wall. A young man was seated on the floor with his hands zip-cuffed behind him.
He wore loose-fitting pants and high-top sneakers and was fifteen, max, but his
eyes already had the flat, battle-hardened look of a warrior.

“Found him
in the tunnel.” Sean nodded toward a passage that connected the house to who
the hell knew what. The tunnel system here was like a rabbit warren.

Derek
spotted a workbench littered with electrical wires, nails, several jars of
black powder—all bomb components. He scanned the rest of the room, and his gaze
came to rest on a large safe in the corner. It was a serious box, definitely
imported, and would have been a major pain in the ass to get here.

Now Derek understood
why he’d been called over. He glanced at the kid and tried to remember his
rudimentary Pashto.

“What’s the
number?” Derek asked in Pashto, because he didn’t know the word for
“combination.”

The kid
didn’t answer.

Derek
pointed the stock of his gun at the safe. “Open it.”

The kid
looked away, sullen.

“Screw
this.” Sean reached for his kit and got out some C-4.

Derek
stepped over to check for booby traps. He didn’t see any, but there was only
one way to know for sure. Sean set a small charge, and they crossed to the
other side of the room. The burst reverberated through the cavern, and they
rushed back over.

“Damn, look
at all this.” Sean pulled out a stack of papers, singed around the edges and
still smoking. He flung it to the ground and stomped the fire out as Derek
reached in and pulled out a notebook computer.

“Two
minutes,” the CO said over the radio.

Derek
cursed. Even with the extra minutes they’d built into the plan, they were
running behind.

Sean was
already pulling out his mesh bag, which they carried for this purpose. Some of
the papers were in English, but Derek didn’t take the time to read them as he
jammed everything into the bag. He reached in and snatched a thumb drive as
Sean grabbed another batch of papers. Loose pages fluttered to the ground.

His
teammate held up a sheet. “Hey, look at this.”

“No time to
read. We need to move.”

“It’s a
map.”

Derek
glanced at it. It was in English, with notes scrawled around the edges. Derek
scanned the street names. His blood ran cold. He looked at Sean.

“Guys, move
it!” someone yelled down the stairs.

Derek
glanced at his watch. They’d been on target way too long. He glanced at the
kid. In a matter of hours, this house would be looted and abandoned. In a
matter of minutes, this guy would be in the wind.

“On your
feet,” Derek ordered.

Sean
shouldered his pack. “They said no prisoners.”

“On your
feet!”

The kid
stood grudgingly, proving he knew at least some English. Sean shot Derek a look
before taking the prisoner by the arm and propelling him toward the stairs.

Derek’s
mind reeled as he looked at the papers strewn on the floor. He scooped up every
scrap and checked the safe again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then
threw his bag over his shoulder and raced upstairs. All the windows rattled as
a Black Hawk swooped overhead en route to the landing zone. He glanced into the
courtyard just as their EOD guy ducked out. He’d been setting the charge on the
ordnance, and the look on his face told Derek it was about to blow.

“Hey, what
are you doing here? Haul ass!”

Boom!

Derek
dropped to his knees as the house shook. Chunks of debris rained down from the
ceiling.

“Come on!”
Derek yelled.

They
sprinted outside, where the last member of their team was holding security by
the door. A few neighbors’ lights had come on. People peered through windows
and leaned out from doorways.

“Vaughn,
where the hell are you?”

It was
Luke’s voice over the radio, probably already at the LZ, which was a vacant lot
at the end of the street.

“We’re half
a click away.”

They double-timed
it toward the landing zone, pushing the prisoner ahead of them.

“We got
company,” Cole said over the radio as a truck screeched around the corner. It
was packed with armed men and had a .50-cal machine gun mounted to the roof.

Derek
grabbed Sean’s vest and yanked him out of the road. He pushed him down the
alley leading to their alternate exfil route.

“Vaughn,
report! Where are you?”

“Almost
there.”

The street
smelled like sewer water. Trash swirled in the rotor wash as they neared the
waiting helo.

Rat-tat-tat.

The gunner
on the truck let loose with the .50-cal. His buddies with AKs were well out of
range, but that didn’t stop them from spraying bullets.

Derek
rounded the building just in time to get a mouth full of dust. Mike was lifting
the doctor into the chopper. Hailey had a SEAL on each arm, and they were
practically carrying her, but she tore away from them and made a sprint for it.
She flung herself onto the helo, and about a dozen hands reached out to pull
her inside. Luke and Mike jumped in behind her.

Rat-tat-tat.

Derek and
Sean ducked and sprinted while several teammates aimed over their heads and
returned fire. The prisoner reached the helo first, and Mike pulled him aboard.

Rat-tat-tat-tat.

Sean
crashed down behind him. Derek turned and hauled him to his feet. Noise drowned
out the words, but Derek could read his friend’s lips and the panicked look in
his eyes: I’m hit. Derek heaved him over his shoulder and stumbled forward.
Bullets peppered the helo’s sides as Luke jumped down and helped lift Sean
inside.

“Go, go,
go!”

Derek
grabbed the outstretched hands of his teammates as they seized his pack and
yanked him aboard. His boots were barely inside when the Black Hawk lurched off
the ground and lifted into the sky.

Q&A for BEYOND LIMITS

Laura, Thank you for stopping by KT Book Reviews to chat today about your New
Release in the Tracers Series, BEYOND LIMITS.

For New Readers, what is the Tracers
Series about?

The Tracers are an elite
group of forensic experts who help investigators solve their very toughest
cases. The Tracers include all sorts of talented people: Mia the DNA expert,
Ben the cyber detective, Kelsey the forensic anthropologist. The list goes on!
I love writing about these people- not just their work but their tumultuous
personal lives, too.

BEYOND LIMITS is the eighth in the
Tracers Series, when you first started writing, let’s go as far back as THREAD
OF FEAR, did you have ANY idea that the Tracers would become what it is today?

I had no idea. Originally
I had envisioned three books, but the series just kind of took on a life of its
own. I would introduce a new character, then readers would ask for that
character’s story. With each new book I love bringing in new characters and
also catching up with people from past books.

If you could have one of the field
careers that pertain to the Tracer’s team, which would you want for a career?

Well,
I’m fascinated by so much of what the Tracers do. You could say I’m a forensics
junkie! I really love Mia’s job—she’s the DNA expert. I’m also amazed with all
the tricks Ben has up his sleeve. He’s the computer expert who uncovers some
key clues in BEYOND LIMITS.

I know you do a TON of research on the
careers associated with the Tracers Team, do you have a favorite “research
trip” that you can share, or the coolest thing you have gotten to experience
for book research?

The
fictional Delphi Center Crime Lab sits in the middle of a body farm. I’ve had a
chance to visit one, and what they do there is so interesting (if you can get
past being squeamish). It’s amazing to see all the ways that human bones can
tell a story for investigators.

To Date, which is your favorite Tracers
novel and why?

The
books are all so different, so I don’t really have a favorite. I love BEYOND
LIMITS because the story really pushes these characters to their max—both in
their jobs and their personal lives. Derek’s SEAL skills come into play, and
Elizabeth’s sharp investigative instincts. But what I love most is their
relationship struggle. Derek and Elizabeth have to work hard to find their
happy ending.

Is it difficult to come up with fresh
ideas?

I
started out as a newspaper reporter, so I like to keep up with current events.
I’m always getting inspired by headlines and news tidbits. And every time I
interview a new law enforcement person or forensic expert the ideas start
rolling in.

What is the best part about writing
Romance Suspense?

I
like to read tense, exciting stories. With romantic suspense you have the
sexual tension plus the action-adventure plot to drive the story forward. My
favorite books are thrillers where you also feel an emotional connection to the
characters.

I know you are working on the HART
& MORENO Series with the fabulous Allison Brennen, and just released your
first Hard Cover Suspense, FAR GONE, and then of course we have BEYOND LIMITS
now released, so what are you working on currently?

I’m
writing the next Tracers book, SHADOW FALL. This one features some of my
favorite Tracers characters- Mark Wolfe, Kelsey Quinn, Mia Voss. The book’s
hero is Mark’s brother, Liam Wolfe, an ex-Marine who runs a private security
firm and finds himself being investigated for a brutal murder.

Is there anything else you would like
to share with readers?

People
often ask me if you need to read the Tracers books in order, and you don’t .
Each story has a stand-alone mystery and a different romantic couple. So you
can dive right in to the series!

Thank you so much for stopping by to
chat!!Readers, don’t forget to enter to
win a Tracers Book Bundle featuring SCORCHED and TWISTED!

It’s
one of my favorite times of the year! No, not Christmas…… Laura Griffin
has a new Tracers book out!! A book highlight of my year for sure.
Beyond Limits is book number eight in the series, and yet again she has
outdone herself.

The romance/suspense balance is so on point.
The dynamic between FBI agent Elizabeth LeBlanc and Navy Seal Derek
Vaughn is smart, witty, and tension-building. With a case that mimics
real world events, I was drawn in with my heart racing right along with
these characters; never a lull in the story or a break in the tensions
mounting. I was captivated from page one.